Share this:

At least 20 occupants of a party bus, their hands zip-tied behind their backs, sit on a curb after being detained by police in Seal Beach following an incident at a nearby CVS. (Photo by Jeff Collins, the Orange County Register/SCNG)

At least two display cases were knocked over at the Seal Beach CVS at 921 Pacific Coast Highway. A social media post by someone claiming to be a manager said occupants of a party bus got mad after they were denied use of the restroom. (Photo by Jeff Collins, the Orange County Register/SCNG)

Police surrounded an extended party bus following an incident at a Seal Beach CVS, ordering occupants off one by one. (Photo by Jeff Collins, the Orange County Register/SCNG)

At least 20 occupants of a party bus, their hands zip-tied behind their backs, sit on a curb after being detained by police in Seal Beach following an incident at a nearby CVS. (Photo by Jeff Collins, the Orange County Register/SCNG)

SEAL BEACH — At least 50 people were detained Saturday night, Jan. 14, after a massive police response that shut down Pacific Coast Highway near the Long Beach city limit.

Seal Beach police said Sunday, Jan. 14, that the group had been involved in a strong-arm robbery at a CVS store shortly beforehand.

Sgt. Mike Henderson said a victim reported the robbery at 11:23 p.m. and claimed that several people from the unmarked white bus entered the CVS store, at 921 Pacific Coast Highway, and began to strike him before stealing property and fleeing.

“Witnesses described the party bus fleeing in a northbound direction on Pacific Coast Highway. Officers located the bus a short distance away and initiated a traffic stop,” Henderson said.

As officers investigated, people were removed from the bus and seated on the curb. Some people documented the traffic interruption on social media.

One post said that police surrounded the white, unmarked bus and ordered at least 20 occupants off at gunpoint. A video posted on Periscope showed occupants walking backward towards officers with their hands up before their hands were zip-tied behind their backs. They then were photographed and ordered to sit on the curb.

A Facebook post republished on the Next Door app by someone claiming to be a CVS manager said party bus occupants got hostile after they were denied access to the restroom, then vandalized the store.

“It’s our policy to close the bathrooms at 10 p.m.,” the post said. “They got hostile and started yelling.”

A Register reporter photographed the front of the store showing at least two display cases knocked over.

Neighbors said they heard sirens, followed by a helicopter that circled overhead, shining a searchlight on PCH. Some residents reported hearing gunshots, but Henderson said no shots were fired during the incident.

At least 15 Seal Beach and Long Beach patrol cars blocked off the state highway near First Street.

A second party bus was stopped in Long Beach near North Studebaker Road, but it was unclear if it was connected to the incident.

For more than a decade, Jeff Collins has followed housing and real estate, covering market booms and busts and all aspects of the real estate industry. He has been tracking rents and home prices, and has explored solutions to critical problems such as Southern California’s housing shortage and affordability crisis. Before joining the Orange County Register in 1990, he covered a wide range of topics for daily newspapers in Kansas, El Paso and Dallas. A Southern California native, he studied at UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine. He later earned a master’s degree from the USC School of Journalism.